Ethics Probe Clears Moody

No State Laws Broken By Rell's Top Aide

The state's top prosecutor said Monday that he has found no violation of criminal laws after a 1 1/2-month investigation of a gubernatorial fundraising event that targeted state commissioners and became Gov. M. Jodi Rell's first political embarrassment.

The most significant conclusion reached by Chief State's Attorney Christopher L. Morano is that M. Lisa Moody, Rell's chief of staff and the organizer of the Dec. 7 fundraiser, did not violate state election laws when she or her staff distributed fundraising solicitations to virtually all state department heads.

Morano also cleared the department heads and their deputies who -- on Moody's instructions -- passed along fundraising invitations to political appointees on their staffs. Even though state election law prohibits department heads from soliciting political contributions, Morano concluded that the department heads lacked the requisite criminal intent to have violated the law.

``In conclusion, this office has determined that criminal prosecution of this matter is not warranted,'' Morano said in a press release. ``Accordingly, this investigation is closed and no further action will be taken.''

However, Morano said he is making his investigative file available to Jeffrey B. Garfield, executive director of the State Elections Enforcement Commission, whose agency has been conducting a parallel investigation of whether noncriminal violations occurred.

Garfield said he will present his findings to the elections commission, which could decide Wednesday whether to pursue further action, including the consideration of administrative sanctions such as fines on department heads or others.

Morano immediately encountered criticism for giving a pass to the commissioners and their deputies. ``Any of them who took the additional step and passed on the invitations to others, that should be a violation of the law'' because it is a solicitation, and Morano should prosecute, Lt. Gov. Kevin B. Sullivan said. Sullivan last week proposed a law banning all state employees from campaign activities on state time.

Moody organized the fundraiser at the Marco Polo restaurant in East Hartford and made it known to department heads that it was to be -- in the words of one attendee -- a ``special'' event for Rell. She also directed the department heads to distribute the invitations to selected members of their staffs.

When it was disclosed that Moody instructed department heads to pick up packets of invitations at her Capitol office during business hours, the event's fundraising value collapsed. Rell announced she was returning the money and suspended Moody for two weeks.

Campaign records show that 79 people contributed about $60,000 at the Marco Polo event. Only a handful contributed a second time after Rell returned the money, costing the campaign about $50,000 in revenue, at least initially.

Over the course of his investigation, which began Dec. 15, Morano said 20 investigators from his office interviewed more than 60 people and inspected campaign finance records. Although Morano would not say who was interviewed, others familiar with the investigation said those interviewed included Rell and Moody.

Moody's lawyer, Richard R. Brown of Hartford, said his client spoke with investigators for about two hours and answered all their questions.

``We're pleased that it's over,'' Brown said Monday night.

Morano said his staff concluded that two specific election laws applied to the fundraising investigation and that he found no clear violation of either.

He said the first prohibits campaign solicitations by department heads and their deputies and the second prohibits classified state employees from making political solicitations on state time.

While evidence exists that the department heads knew they were being asked to distribute campaign solicitations, Morano said ``there is no evidence that they encouraged attendance at the event or that they encouraged any individual to make a contribution.

``This is not sufficient to sustain a criminal prosecution,'' Morano said in his press release. ``The mere act of passing an envelope is insufficient to constitute a knowing and willful violation of the law under the facts of this case.''

Because Moody is not a department head, that portion of the law does not apply to her, Morano said.

Sullivan agreed with Morano that the law does not cover Moody -- ``unfortunately,'' in his view -- but he insisted it applies to the commissioners and their deputies. Sullivan said that even Morano is not saying those officials committed no violation, but ``he's saying `It's too small for me to care about.' If you set the standard that the very act that the law anticipates you doing is too small, then the law has no meaning.''

``With all due respect to the chief state's attorney, that's nonsense,'' Sullivan said.

Moody and the department heads also are not classified state employees, who are subject to civil service personnel rules, Morano said.

Finally, Morano said there is no evidence supporting the contention that Moody or the commissioners committed larceny by engaging in political activity while being paid for working at their state jobs.

``In light of the minimal amount of time spent and the fact that the commissioners, deputy commissioners and members of the governor's staff work a substantial number of hours beyond the ordinary work week, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that any of these individuals intended to defraud the state,'' Morano said in his press release.

Moody issued a statement: ``From the outset, I acknowledged my mistake and apologized to the governor and her commissioners. It was a lesson hard learned and I now recommit myself to serving the governor and the state.''